


If I Die Young

by hcwlingnights



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Please Forgive me, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, i don't even forgive myself, im a monster for writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 22:23:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10500654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hcwlingnights/pseuds/hcwlingnights
Summary: Veronica always knew her death would be horrific. Her soulmark was too morbid for it not to be. She just didn't realize how quickly she'd have to face her death.orSoulmate AU where the last words your soulmate says to you are imprinted on your inner shoulder.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I… I am a horrible person for writing this…
> 
> And yes I cried while writing this so… prepare yourselves peeps

Knowing the last words your soulmate will ever say to you, and having them forever imprinted on your upper chest near your shoulder, takes a major toll on a person. So the night before a child turns twelve, they often cross their fingers and pray they've gotten a good sentence, one that will ensure a long, happy life with their soulmate. More often than not, their wishes are futile.

Those with mundane sentences like " _Remember to take a jacket_ " or _"Don't forget your phone"_ spend their lives with their blood running cold at every generic thing, dreading the most common moments of life. Betty Cooper got the short end of that already painfully minuscule stick, with the words _"I love you"_ written in elegant script on her inner shoulder.

Others, have a more terrifying fate, with sentences like _"Did you lock the door?"_ and _"I don't think we're alone"_ forever weighing on their minds, the black ink being a relent remember of the horrors to come. Veronica Lodge, with _"No, don't close your eyes, please don't leave me!"_ written in neat, clear letters that took up a considerable amount of room on her skin, refused to be frightened of her fate.

* * *

 

Hiram had wanted to hire a bodyguard for Veronica when he first saw her sentence, expecting his little _princessa_ to be all smiles and giggles when she came down to show him and her mother. When he was instead greeted with a very silent, lost in thought Veronica, moving slowly with utterly confused look on her face, his heart broke. Hermione had began to cry, and Hiram had to take a moment, too shocked and unwilling to believe that his daughter's last moments would be filled with the fear and begging of her future soulmate to fully process what the fates had decided was in store for Veronica. Once it finally hit him, he was off, cursing the world and vowing that it was a mistake, that nobody was going to take his daughter in this manner, not if he could help it. He'd been reaching for his cell phone, thinking aloud about which of his friends knew the best security detail, when Veronica finally spoke. 

"Don't bother _papi._ Itwon't make a difference." Veronica's voice was surprisingly calm as she spoke. She'd been the first the accept what was in store for her. "It's already decided, there's no changing it." 

Of course neither Hiram nor Hermione wanted to accept this, but they knew it was true. So they simply hugged Veronica tight, silently crying together, mourning a loss that they had no understanding of when it would take place. But Veronica took solace in one fact.

At least her soulmate would be with her when she died.

* * *

 

To many, Betty's words weren't that bad.

There was no indication that the words wouldn't be said when she was old, having lived her life happily, at the end of a perfectly respectable span of life.

On the flip side however, there was no telling that the words wouldn't be said in mere passing, her soulmate simplying telling her goodbye on their way to work, or God forbid in the car after a perfect date, only to get into a car accident moments later. 

There were far too many possibilities, too many ways everything could go wrong, and that scared the hell out of Betty. No matter how many times everyone assured her that she was overreacting, that _"I love you"_ was a perfectly darling mark, Betty just knew that things wouldn't turn out that way. She knew she'd grow to hate her mark, for taking her soulmate away from her in a time she just knew would be too soon. She'd never thought she'd actually be right, and for once, she hadn't wanted to be right.

* * *

 

The first time Veronica told Betty she loved her, using the exact words, _"I love you"_ , Betty nearly had a panic attack. They'd been dating for about three months, and had never seen each other's marks, so when Betty begged Veronica to say something else, anything else, frantically looking around the room for anything that could be potentially dangerous, Veronica was completely confused, however was quick to oblige Betty's command, following up with, "Betty are you okay? What the hell is going on?"

Once Betty was sure nobody was going to take Veronica away from her, at least not yet, she collapsed against her, heart still racing and tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Veronica didn't question this, merely holding Betty gently and stroking her hair, cooing sweet nothings to her until she'd calmed down. She wasn't expecting Betty to sit up suddenly and yank her t-shirt off either (though she certainly didn't mind), but when her eyes landed on the three words written in her handwriting on Betty's skin, she understood. 

Betty had begged Veronica then to never say "I love you" to her again, anything else but not that, no matter what. Veronica's heart physically hurt at that, but she understood. Fate was cruel, and it wasn't even worth the expression if all saying "I love you" would do is make Betty panic. They settled on other proclamations of love, "I adore you", "You're perfect", "You're my one and only", and while they were all beautiful sentiments, both girls knew they didn't hold the same value of the three simple words, but both girls didn't want to risk the consequence of the words either.

* * *

 

Betty saw Veronica's words maybe a month after that. 

The girls had the Lodge residence to themselves, and had taken things up to Veronica's bedroom. Pants and shirts were quickly disgarded as they kissed passionately. When they broke away for air, Betty's content giggles turned to a gasp of horror, eyes landing on the horrific sentence marking her Veronica's beautiful skin. She'd stumbled back a little, tripping over herself and landing on the floor as Veronica realized what wasn't happening and quickly tried to console her. 

In the end, it resulted with the girls getting their clothes back on and watching a series of Disney movies, clutching each other like their lives depended on it. 

Veronica had never been more afraid of the words on her skin, and it was all because of the beautiful, kindhearted girl slowly drifting off to sleep in her arms. She wasn't terrified of whatever would be her executioner, but was horrified of the moment she'd have to give all of this up.

* * *

 

As time went on, slowly Betty and Veronica pushed their soulmarks to the back of their minds. They'd graduated Riverdale High together with ease, and both were accepted to NYU, Betty with a full academic scholarship allowing her to pursue her life with Veronica without the help of her mother, who'd already told her she wasn't paying the tuition fees. Four years later, both graduated NYU with flying colors, Veronica majoring in law and Betty majoring in journalism.

Another year saw Betty getting an internship at the New York Times, with Veronica still looking to make headway in the world of the justice system, happy and content none the less. They'd managed to get their own apartment (with a little help of the Lodge fortune of course, with Hiram out of jail and looking for ways to treat his daughter and her soulmate). 

By the time their anniversary rolled around that year, Veronica had insisted on taking Betty to one of the fanciest restaurants around, celebrating making it halfway through their first year of being adults. Betty made sure to remind her of the dinner Veronica had attempted on their first day of adulthood when their moved into their apartment, which nearly resulted in them burning the entire building down. To this, Veronica simply pointed out that was why they were dining out, and not at home making dinner for themselves. 

Dinner had been amazing, complete with a bottle of champagne Hermione had given them as an anniversary gift. Betty had of course tried to give it back, it was far too expensive, but Hermione had insisted and she'd had to relent. They were stumbling out of the restaurant arm in arm, when out of nowhere a man in a grey hoodie darted by, snatching Betty's pocketbook as he did. 

Instantly Veronica gave chase, shouting obscenities and threats at the robber as she did, with Betty trailing not far behind, trying to get her to stop, the purse wasn't worth the risk and they should just call the police. Veronica of course, being Veronica, did not cease her chase, fully intending to retrieve her love's bag in an act of romantic valor.

The last thing she was expecting was to receive a bullet in the chest as she rounded the corner after their assailant, the pain and sudden impact knocking her onto her knees as the man took off. By the time Betty turned the corner, face full of fear and panic at the sound of the gunshot, Veronica was on her back, breathing shakily as blood began to fill her mouth. 

It took Betty a full ten seconds of standing frozen like a deer in headlights before she was able to move, unable to process the sight before her. There was so much blood, Veronica was such a small girl, how could there possible be so much blood? The entire scenario wasn't possible, they'd just been laughing and celebrating their anniversary, how did this end with Veronica on the ground, hand feebly twitching on her chest and eyes looking around wildly with fear. It was that fear in Veronica's eyes that got Betty's feet moving again, moving until she could kneel at Veronica's side and take that feeble hand in her own, holding it tightly as sobs began to leave her. Bystanders had begun to crowd around, and Betty vaguely heard someone tell her they'd called 911, that an ambulance was on the way, but all she could do was focus on her soulmate lying in a pool of her own blood.

The fear in Veronica's eyes faded immediately once Betty's face appeared before her, and she allowed herself to completely relax. It didn't hurt anymore, she couldn't really feel much of anything, aside from Betty's warmth as she held tight to her hand. 

"Betty…" Veronica was shocked at how soft her own voice was, coming out raspy and a little distorted as she was gurgling on her own blood after all.

Betty immediately shushed her, tears flowing freely down her face. "Ronnie don't speak, save your strength, everything is going to be okay. There's an ambulance on the way." Veronica was going to be alright, she had to be. She couldn't lose her now, it was too soon. 

The news of an ambulance on the way was comforting in a way to Veronica, but she knew they wouldn't make it in time. She could feel herself getting lighter, and everything was getting slightly fuzzy, everything aside from Betty's beautiful face, so full of concern and fear that Veronica wanted to pull her close, and assure her everything would be alright even if it wasn't. 

"I'm a little tired Betts," Veronica admitted, and she felt her eyes slowly shutting against her will. 

"No, don't close your eyes, please don't leave me!" Betty pleaded, grasping Veronica's hand tighter, pulling her into her lap even in attempt to get closer to her love. She didn't even register the words she'd just uttered. Neither did Veronica.

Veronica was too hung up on the fact she'd only once told this amazing girl that she'd loved her once. This girl that could make her laugh no matter what, this girl that she genuinely loved from the very bottom of her heart. She couldn't leave this world without telling her she loved her at least one more time.

"Betty…" It was getting harder to speak, and Veronica had to cough up some blood before continuing.

"I love you."

The moment the words left her lips she felt her eyelids flutter close. As Betty felt Veronica go limp in her arms she realized what had just taken place. She realized the cursed words they'd both said, and she screamed. She screamed long and loud, and she did she felt the words on her chest burn, an agonizing pain that in no way compared to the pain she felt knowing that was the last moment she'd ever spend with Veronica. She didn't stop screaming until the ambulance arrived, until the EMTs had to pry Veronica out of Betty's grasp, until she had to be physically restrained as she fought them, begging desperately for them not to take Veronica away from her. They finally had to sedate her, and as she felt the drugs overtake her, she wished with all her heart she'd never have to wake up again. That she'd never have to wake up without her Veronica. 

* * *

 

Much to Betty's dismay, she did wake up. As she looked around the sterile room, white walls all around, then down at herself, donning a blue hospital gown with an IV stuck in her arm, for a moment, Betty couldn't remember what had happened. Then it all came crashing back down on her, the unbearable weight of the knowledge that her soulmate, her best friend, was dead, and she was still alive. 

She began screaming again, sitting up in the hospital bed and gripping her hair, screaming for someone to just kill her so she could be with Ronnie again, be with her light and love again. Life without Veronica… she didn't think it was possible. She didn't want it to be possible.

Doctors and nurses flooded into the room, trying to console her, trying to restrain her before she hurt herself or someone else. Through all the commotion, she almost missed the familiar face at the doorway of her room. Almost. But there was Hermione Lodge, concern contorting her face and pain in her eyes, and Betty couldn't help but still. Of course she would be here, she'd need to come to collect the body of her daughter, collect Veronica's body, and that thought alone was enough to make Betty want to struggle again. But she noticed Hermione's gaze wasn't on her, it was on someone outside her room still. She tilted her head slightly in confusion, even more so as she heard the words come out of Hermione's mouth.

" _Mija_ , you shouldn't be out of bed, everything is okay, I promise you, but you're going to hurt yourself!"

Then her heart stopped.

Veronica Lodge shoved past her mother into the room as best she could, wires and IVs sticking out of her all over the place. She looked exhausted, but panic was written all over her face, along with pure determination. She scowled at her mother dangerously, clearly unpleased with the allegation that she was unfit to be moving around, even if it was true. 

"I can't just lay there when Betty's screaming, she needs me, Betty needs…" It was then Veronica's eyes locked with Betty's, and they both froze completely. The doctors stopped as well, slowly taking their hands off of Betty as she stopped resisting, wordlessly agreeing to leave the room in order to give the girls more privacy. 

Betty blinked rapidly, tears clouding her vision. Clearly this was a dream because, "You're dead. Y-You… I heard you say my words, you're dead, how are you here?" She finally blurted, breaking the silence and breaking Veronica out of her trance.

Sympathy flooded Veronica's face. "Oh Betty… I… I was dead. My heart stopped for a good seven minutes, but… they brought me back." She said, slowly, allowing Betty to process this miracle, and slowly flashed her a million dollar smile as well. Well, a million dollar smile followed by a wince and an _"I told you so"_ glare from Hermione as she guided Veronica to the chair near Betty's bedside. 

The second Veronica was seated, Betty sat up and cupped her cheek with her hand, disbelief still written all over her face. Veronica covered Betty's hand with her own, leaning her face in to her girlfriend's touch. "You're really okay…" Betty breathed, voice so soft it was nearly inaudible. Veronica heard however, and nodded gingerly. 

"And I'm not leaving you again anytime soon. Look." Veronica released Betty's hand, though as a panicked look over took Betty's face, she took it again, guiding both their hands to the collar of her hospital gown, and pulling down the fabric to reveal her soulmark. Or rather, her new soulmate that is.

_"B &V forever, huh?"_

Astounded and with eyes full of shock, Betty used her free hand to pull down the collar or her own gown, glancing at her mark. 

 _"I think fate knows better than to try to take one of us without the other now._ "

Betty couldn't help the laughter that overtook her then. It was hysterical, relief and pain filled laughter, that worked its way into sobs as she hugged Veronica tightly, kissing her face over and over. Veronica kissed her just as passionately, telling Betty that she loved her over and over again, finally free to say so without worrying either of them. As soon as Betty calmed down, she insisted Veronica get into her bed, following her back into her room as she was free to leave now, the sedative had exited her system, but Veronica still needed to be monitored for a while. Neither girl minded. They had more years to come with each other, they could spare a week of bedrest. 

And more years did they have.

* * *

60 years, two children, and four grandchildren later, Betty Cooper had a heart attack in the garden of their retirement home, where she was waiting for Veronica to have afternoon tea. Three minutes later, Veronica Lodge collapsed in the hallway on the way to the garden, due to an undetected brain tumor. Both women were rushed to the hospital, their children called and told to come immediately. 

Neither one of their prognoses were optimistic that they had much time left on Earth. But neither of them were afraid.

The only request they had of their doctors was a room together, which they were granted, beds pushed together and bars down so they could be closer together. Their children came to visit as soon as they could, weeping as the doctors told them the news, but leaving with sad smiles as Veronica and Betty did everything in their power to keep cracking jokes and smiling. After all, they weren't sad. They'd lived the long, full life together that they'd always wanted. They were together, and they were content.

So when visiting hours were over, and the doctors had come to shut off the lights for the night, Betty rolled on to her side as best she could to face Veronica. 

"I don't want to leave this world without you." She whispered, voice soft and gentle with age.

Veronica merely smiled slyly, a mischievous glint still sparkling in her eyes despite the many years she had faced. "I think fate knows better than to try to take one of us without the other now." She reassured her, taking her hand and kissing it gently.

To this Betty smiled and chuckled softly. "B&V forever, huh?" She said gently, before cuddling into her wife. Veronica wrapped her arms around her, kissing her forehead gently, before they both drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, when their nurse found them, they had both passed peacefully in each other's arms. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> SORTA SUPRISE ENDING REMINISCENT OF THE NOTEBOOK BECAUSE I COULDNT BEAR TO PUT MY GIRLS THROUGH SO MUCH SUFFERING NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRIED. B&V FOREVER!


End file.
